Tuesday, May 31, 2011

It's official.

So. As I said, it's official. I wrapped up my job last week and now have a good few weeks of leisure to look forward to before going back in August. This is the sole perk that keeps me working there, so I'd better make good use of it. As usual, I've compiled a to-do list that I absolutely must accomplish. They are the same things on my list from last summer, but now I can't seem to remember why I didn't do any of them.

I am a very tidy, clean and put together person… until you open a desk drawer. Yes, I am convinced that paperwork is somehow multiplying in my home, a super strain of paper so utterly resistant to organization and files that they are taking over my life and general well being. That is the demon that I will battle in the next few weeks. Or at least I'll consider battling it before prematurely waving my white flag, picking up a book and making a sandwich…. so that will probably only take up half a day and now I have to find a way to be productive with the rest of the time. (Ah, now I remember why it never got done.)

2010 was an awful year, just fucking terrible. I did not anticipate 2011 to be as bad, but it's shaping up to be a serious contender for the "Kill Me Now" belt. Now that I've had plenty of time to practice, my coping strategies are becoming a bit more efficient. Since I spend so much time lately dealing with issues I didn't ask for or contribute to putting myself in the middle of, I've realized that it's foolish to spend even more time talking about it. I'm sick of listening to myself, for one. Plus, when I'm actually not in the midst of crap, I really don't want to spend that time rehashing the latest chapter for someone in the 'inner circle'. Ugh. Part of this has been taken care of by narrowing that circle to about four people, the other part has been dealt with by giving random e-mail updates I shall call 'Bullshit of the Week Bulletin' all at once and refusing to actually discuss it in person if I should by chance leave my house and see one of them.

Writing this blog, however, does wonders for me. Even if I'm not directly discussing what ails, purging my brain of racing thoughts is a beautiful and therapeutic thing for me. Making myself write every day for that 30 day song challenge was great, but I fizzled out due to 101 reasons after that, so summer seems to be a good time to gain momentum again. I could do part 2 of the challenge, since I do a hell of a lot more than post a video and leave it at that…. besides, when you don't leave your house much, you tend to have a hard time finding something to write about that won't make someone fall face first into their laptop. I'll have to ponder that for a spell, maybe I'll bring it back.

So focusing on this blog goes on the list. I've been told I should put it out there and try to get some exposure for this blog…. hmm, I don't know about that. Of course, the person that told me this doesn't seem to realize that it took me two years from signing up for this site to actually figure out how to use a pre-made layout for the page. Yes, my name is Tats and I'm a technological dunce. I've no idea what the hell I'm doing.

So tell me, fellow bloggers, do you post in forums, link up to other followers, what? How exactly does one go about getting 'exposure'? (Eww, just writing that makes me think of contracting an STD that won't go away for some reason, not a good sign) To me, it all sounds a bit desperate and maybe akin to trying to whore your words out… so while I won't beg for followers (not my style), I'm always up for something that borders on racy, so I'm open to other ideas. It's not that I have a problem with writing for just myself and a select few. If that were the case the fact that I often talk out loud to myself would be concerning, and that couldn't be further from the truth. I just figure that I need a project, and this page will be it. It's low maintenance in all the right ways, and time consuming in all the right ones. Thoughts?

3 comments:

Well enjoy your break - I'm guessing you need it.I now have a totally clutter free house, finally finished the great clear out - did all the little DIY jobs I've been meaning to do, my house looks fucking great and guess what ?Son is coming back for 10 days from tomorrow.Hmmm...24 hours n I'll be bloggin about infurating mess and playing of drums.

Re your question - my first followers came from chatting in TCS, but your followers have their own that might check you out. And people will see your icon on blogs you follow. Comment, comment, comment !!! I have also been placed on others reading lists. The more you post the more likely you are to show up in random searches via google - check your search keywords in your stats, some of mine are pretty random. Some have just found me via shared interests.USE the google reader - you have a blog and a profile so you have one (just google to find it), make all your posts 'shared' on there.I have never promoted anywhere but since Jan 21st I have 103 followers ( and maybe some anonymous ones too), another 15 on google reader and nearly 6000 page views.

How do you share your posts on Google Reader. I just found it myself, so now I will sit down and try to figure it out until my head explodes. I'm just like a 74 year old woman with a new remote control for her TV.

You need to follow your own blog - then your posts show up in the list - click on them then you will see the 'share' button at the bottom, that means anyone can see them. You may even find you alrady have a few followers on there - click 'sharing options' on the left to see - I did when I was told about it. There are other options too, but I'm not sure what they do.